Cloud-watching & Butterflies
by CDCTheRandomWizard23
Summary: Ally remembers the anniversary of her mom's death while Austin is there to comfort her. Overcoming her inner obstacles, she discovers the butterfly that she was meant to be. Auslly One-shot.


**AN: Hope you all enjoy this fluffy Auslly one-shot! :) Please tell me what you think in a review!**

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Ally's POV:

The spring flowers arrayed themselves into an assortment of gentle colors across the light green meadow surrounding us. The scent of the blossoming flowers combined with the wind that was swaying the leaves above in the trees scattered far and wide across the field. Austin and I were lying on the grass of a small hill gazing up at the clouds roaming across the sky. He even brought the guitar I'd given him as a birthday present which was sitting on the grass beside him. It was peaceful, even relaxing. It was just a couple of friends laughing whenever we saw a funny-looking cloud, and all our worries were forgotten in that moment.

I enjoyed times like this when I was with a friend; it was just the way things should be. I recalled going cloud-watching with my mom before…before she died. Today was the anniversary of her passing. Those distant memories faded in and out of my mind, and I tried to drive them away but realized that I wasn't succeeding very much at the effort. I tried to at least look cheerful though, both for myself and for Austin. I didn't want him to worry about me, not on a beautiful afternoon like this one.

"Ally, look! That cloud looks like a guitar!" Austin pointed upwards as his face lit up in glee.

"_Aus-tin_," I giggled. "All the clouds you've pointed out today have all looked like guitars!"

"Oh. Well, that's the only thing I see in these clouds," replied Austin as he grinned. "I'm just so excited for the concert I'm gonna play at the beach today. It's gonna start in just fifteen minutes!"

"That's great, Austin, but you've got to learn how to look deeper…How to unravel the mysteries that these beautiful clouds are trying to show," I contemplated. Austin sat up.

"You're always over-thinking things," he mentioned flatly.

I supposed that what he said was actually true. Perhaps I was used to thinking deeply about everything; it was simply part of who I was.

"It just helps me appreciate every part of life," I said, sitting up and brushing a few blades of grass off my dress.

Austin glanced around at the grass. With one swift motion, he grabbed a bunch of flowers.

"You like flowers, right?" he asked me.

"I've always liked flowers," I answered with a small smile.

Austin chuckled. "These are for you, Ally," he grinned, handing me a couple of white puffy flowers.

I paused to examine what he was giving me. "Austin, you know that those are _dandelions_, don't you?" I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my giggles. Austin's grin disappeared as he blushed and turned his head away.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he mumbled as he glanced down at the weeds in his hand, looking embarrassed. His cheeks started to turn a light shade of red. I giggled some more.

"Well, don't be. I think it's actually kinda sweet that you'd pick flowers for me," I said as I felt my face turn red too, matching Austin's expression. My fingers started to play with my hair after I accepted the dandelions. Austin came up with a sudden idea.

"Ally, why don't you make a wish and blow the dandelions? Then, your wish could come true!" Austin beamed, a large grin spreading across his face.

"Ooh, okay," I quietly stuttered while I nervously took one dandelion from the bunch, my hand brushing against his as I felt my heart beat faster at the touch. I held it out in front of myself.

I gently closed my eyelids and thought of a wish. When I blew on the delicate flower, all the cotton-like fluff spread out above us, reaching over the tops of the oak trees and out of sight. Several black-and-orange butterflies flittered around us, chasing each other in playful merriment. We stayed there in a peaceful silence for about a minute until Austin dared to break it.

"So what did you wish for?" Austin asked curiously.

"If I tell you, then it might not come true," I shrugged. I was still carefully holding the other dandelion in my fingers. "Now it's your turn." I offered it to Austin as he took it, holding it gently between his fingers.

Austin murmured to himself while scratching the back of his head in thought, making his blonde mop of hair bounce up and down. "Sometimes I don't understand you, Ally."

"And there's some things I don't understand about you," I countered as I smiled over at him. "You're always so full of energy and wanting to rush things. It's like you expect to record a demo, release an album, travel all across the planet in a world tour, have time for both band practice and school at the same time…Plus, you force me to go along your crazy journey with you as your partner. Sometimes I need a little break which is why we're both just sitting here and relaxing," I said, laying myself on the grass again and peering up at the vast sky. I sighed, trying to keep my nerves calm which was difficult to do when the thought of my mom kept slipping through my mind. "Isn't this the most peaceful place you've ever been to?"

"Yeah, I guess," Austin shrugged and played with the delicate dandelion in his fingers. "Cloud watching isn't really my thing though. But I'm happy to be doing it with you." Austin's voice helped to soothe my body for a moment.

"Isn't there anything at all that you like about cloud watching though?" I asked him. I studied his face for a minute as he thought.

"Let's see, I like how clouds are free to roam anywhere they want to," he began. "Nothing's holding them back. It's like they're completely carefree, and they go wherever the wind carries them." He formed a small grin as he admired the steady, racing clouds in the air. The colored butterflies spun around above our heads, traveling from flower to flower.

"But I see clouds in a different way," I spoke softly. He turned his gaze away from the sky and glanced over at me. I was lying on the grass a couple feet away from where he was sitting up near a patch of little orange blossoms. I continued speaking as I fixed my steady gaze onto a cluster of clouds that were soaring above us like an umbrella shielding us from the path of the falling sunlight. "Sometimes a cloud is just a big, muddled clump that doesn't look like anything at all. It's hard to tell what it is exactly, and it doesn't know who it is or what it's doing out there up in the sky. The sky's too wide and so far, that it's just lost and doesn't know which direction that it's headed," I sighed. Austin's grin faltered little by little, probably from noticing my expression fall into a more somber one.

"It's lost up there," I continued. "So then it's scared. It's defenseless against all the storms and wind and left to fend for itself alone. It's left to drift away until it's too late to help, too late to save. Then, it gets mixed-up with all the other clouds and it just blends in with all the rest, until it falls hard on the ground on a gloomy day. And then, it's forgotten." I wish my mom was with me for a longer time. She left too soon in my life.

"Ally," he spoke softly, as the gentle wind carried a breeze across the field of grass, through the flowers, and through our hair. I closed my eyes and didn't answer to his call, keeping a solemn expression on my face. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I used to go cloud-watching with my mom when I was younger. We'd lay here on the grass and talk about our dreams every single week in the springtime," I said, not answering his question. "She's the one who told me to chase after my dreams in music and never let go. She's the reason why I started to write songs and why I'm trying so hard at making music. I do it for her."

"It must have been fun cloud-watching with her," Austin said cautiously in a quiet voice. I could imagine his caring expression gazing directly at me although my eyes were still closed. "Do you still do that now?"

"N-no. I don't. Because, well…'cause she's gone," I choked out miserably, wearing a heavy frown. I looked at Austin's face which now bore a sorrowful expression. He made a small gasp and moved closer to me, lifting me in a hug as he sat on the soft grass. "Today marks the fourth year since she died."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ally. I didn't know," he mumbled into my hair sympathetically.

"It's fine, really," I murmur into his chest sadly, starting to feel a few teardrops rolling down my cheeks. "I hadn't told you." He continued to hold me in his embrace as my tears turned into a flood and as my sobs turned into desperate cries for comfort.

"No, Ally, it's not fine. I've never seen you this upset before," he stated firmly as he shook his head. I'd managed to keep my sadness locked up inside of me so far, but now it escaped under all the pressure I'd been keeping inside. I felt terrible, helpless. I suddenly remembered something.

"A-austin, your c-concert!" I exclaimed in a raspy voice as I loosened out of his arms a little bit and stared at him. He checked his watch on his wrist and then glanced back at me.

"I'll have many other concerts. Right now, you're more important to me than anything," he said as he wrapped his arms around me again, giving me protection from the storm of my emotions. I put my arms around him too, feeling safe in the shelter of his arms. We remained like this for several minutes as my sobs lessened and the tears fell soundlessly from my eyes.

After I felt as if I had regained my voice, I spoke. "Thanks, Austin," I uttered softly. Austin nodded as his hands wiped my tears from my face and tucked my wet strands of hair behind my ears. I left his hug, and we sat there silently, listening to the distant wind and the birds chirping in the meadow around us. Austin got up and wandered a few feet away to gather a bouquet of tall, vibrant flowers. He returned to me and placed them in my hands. I couldn't help but smile at his small gesture that meant so much to me. I saw him smile back at me, noticing my brighter expression. Austin took off his jacket which was covered with all my fallen tears and laid it beside his guitar on the grass.

"You know what? You're the bravest girl I've ever known, Ally," he said to me.

"What makes you say that?" I questioned, wiping my eyes.

"I can't imagine going through your life. It must be really tough without your mom," he sighed.

"I'm not brave at all," I faltered, blankly looking down at the grass. "I freeze up on stage. I can barely speak. Anyone's braver than I am," I frowned.

"That's not true," he said. "And you're lots of other things too. I love how you're always so smart and you write all these amazing lyrics for my songs."

"Not all the time," I sighed. Austin continued.

"Most of all, I love how you're so beautiful to me," he grinned, stroking my hair.

"I've just cried. My makeup's messed up all over my face. I really don't think I look pretty at all right now," I said, wiping my eyes again.

"You mean so much to me, Ally. I want you to understand." Austin reached over to grab his guitar from the grass beside himself and started strumming softly. "I wrote you a couple more verses."

_If you wanna grow, I'll be your garden_

_If you wanna sing, I'll be your song_

_If you wanna shine, I will be your light_

_Anything you need, that's what I'll be_

_You can come to me_

Austin smiled over at me, his caring eyes sparkling brightly. A small smile began to form on my lips as I reached up to play with my hair nervously. I love how Austin can be so sweet. I listened intently to his passionate voice.

_If you wanna call, I'll be your answer_

_If you wanna soar, I'll be your wings_

_If you want a friend, Doesn't matter when_

_Anything you need, that's what I'll be_

_You can come to me_

He ended with one last strum, and as soon as he was done, I threw myself over to him in a tight hug.

"You do so much for me," he grinned. "I want to do all I can for you."

"That's why I'm glad I have my friends. I know I'm not alone; I'm glad I have you," I said as I ended the hug.

"Hey, why don't you try conquering your stage fright? Do it for your mom. She'd want you to, and she'd be proud," Austin suggested cheerfully.

"Well…" I thought about it for a moment as I stroked the petals on the bouquet of flowers Austin had given me. A little butterfly hovered over my handful of flowers until it drifted away a few seconds later.

"Come on, Ally," he urged me. "You can try singing on stage with me tomorrow at the mall during my next show! It's the perfect opportunity to try! Remember that very first song that you ever wrote in Kindergarten?"

"The Butterfly Song?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Austin nodded. He began to sing gently. "'_I'm a little butterfly, spread my colorful wings_…"

"_Even though I'm small and frail, I can do most anything_," I added, my voice raspy from crying earlier. "_Caterpillar in my cocoon, I'm gonna be a butterfly soon…_"

We both sat smiling at each other in the sunlight as I came to a realization. It was time for me to leave my cocoon and become the butterfly that I was meant to be. My mom would have wanted me to continue my dreams in music. It would be like she was still with me.

"Okay, you're right," I nodded while smiling contentedly. My heart was finally relieved. "I'll do it for my mom. I'll do it for all of us."

"You'll always be my little butterfly, Ally," Austin said, his face shining brightly. "And there's something I've been meaning to ask you." He held my hands which were still holding his bouquet of flowers. "Ally Dawson, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?" he asked with pleading eyes. I broke into a huge grin.

"My wish came true."

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**AN: Thanks for reading! :) Also, for those of you who read my A&A multi-chapter story, "Drowning in Flowers", a new chapter is also coming soon! Alright, that's all! Please review with your thoughts! :)**

**- TheRandomWizard23**


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